Anonymous

“ They were brought up under Catherine; neither father nor mother having the least concern in their education, or authority over their conduct. Thus she strove to wean the hearts of these children from parents they scarcely knew.
It was generally supposed that Catherine intended to proclaim Alexander, the present emperor, heir to the crown, but death took her by surprise, and a horrid shriek which she gave as she expired, was the dreaded sound to proclaim Paul emperor of all the Russias. ”

“ The coachman, instead of answering hastened to a spot where it was possible to comply: Paul however, ordered his equerry to arrest and punish the rebellious coachman—the equerry assured him he would turn in a moment; Paul flew into a passion with the equerry also: "You are a pitiful scoundrel like himself," said he, "Let him overturn the carriage, let him break my neck, but let him obey me." During the dispute the coachman succeeded in turning, but Paul had him chastised on the spot. ”

“ Not satisfied with depriving him of the affection and prerogatives he ought to have enjoyed as a son she resolved to take from him likewise the rights and pleasures of a father. His wife came almost every year to lie in at Tzarsko-selo, and left her children there in the hands of stranger. ”